All hugs are not created equal

A study has discovered that feelings determine the manner in which you hug

Hugs demonstrate love, joy and comfort. Researchers studied more than 2,500 hugs to determine the nature of affectionate and positive hugs, and which hand will be on top during the embrace.

Said lead author Julian Packheiser, “We wanted to know if hug-related behaviour is affected by the emotional context in the given situation.”

The study found that most people show a preference for right-sided hugs, while left-sided hugs can occur in positive as well as negative situations. “This is because of the influence of the right hemisphere, which controls the left side of the body and processes both positive and negative emotions,” said Packheiser. “When people hug, emotional and motor networks in the brain interact and cause a stronger drift to the left in emotional contexts.”

Packheiser also inferred that right-handed people tend to hug the other person from the right side, much more often than left-handed people.